My last week on board…

So it’s time to say goodbye to the DFDS King Seaways and the ORCA centre for 2014. What a season it’s been – I’ve seen hundreds of porpoises, dozens of white-beaked dolphins and a great number of magnificent minke whales. I’ve also met loads of amazing people; crew and passengers. And I’ve been able to engage with such a wide range of people; from enthusiastic families who have booked on the wildlife mini cruise, to people who simply can’t get their heads around the fact that yes, we can see whales and dolphins in the north sea! I can’t even put into words the amazing array of faces I’ve seen when someone has seen their first whale or dolphin – it’s just been fantastic.

My highlight from this week was being able to join an ORCA survey team up on the bridge, after ORCA centre activities, of course. To see the survey protocol in practice was great, and we even saw a few animals, too! We saw a good number of porpoises on the way out from Newcastle but the best bit for me was on the approach to Newcastle on the second day. At the same place and at the same time as last week, we saw the breaching minke whale again!! The whale’s position was given away by the huge splash it was creating, and it breached about 5 times. I am going to call this whale jumpy and may s/he be seen on many surveys in the future!!

Photo: Breaching minke whale – not the best photo, but you get the idea!

As I approached Newcastle this morning, I had my fingers crossed that some marine mammals would wish me farewell! I was delighted that we saw 2 minke whales – and I even got a photo!

Thank you all for reading our blogs, and I look forward to being in the North Sea again very soon…

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What is the ORCA / DFDS Seaways partnership all about?

Whale and dolphin charity ORCA and international ferry operator DFDS Seaways have been working together for ten years to study the wildlife of the North Sea.

2017 sees the start of the tenth year of our ground-breaking initiative to place ORCA Wildlife Officers on board DFDS Seaways ferries sailing across the wildlife rich waters of the North Sea between April and September.
Working on board the King Seaways operating between Newcastle and Amsterdam, our Wildlife Officers Lucy McLeod and Julia Kestler continue to be a huge hit with the general public.